Bill that would’ve stymied Seattle on transpo projects dies

A controversial state Senate bill, aimed at saving time and money on major highway projects but criticized as short-circuiting opposition from places like Seattle, has died due to strong opposition.

Senate Bill 6366 was approved by the Senate Transportation Committee early this month and made it to the Senate floor calendar on Tuesday, the deadline for passage by the full Senate.

But there wasn’t enough support to bring the measure to a vote.

“The bill is indeed dead, and the basic reason is that Seattle folks didn’t want to give up any permitting authority,” Rick Manugian, spokesman for the Senate Democratic Caucus, said Friday.

The measure, co-sponsored by eight Democrats and three Republicans, would have eliminated some environmental permits, shortened the issuance time for some construction permits and eliminated some appeal procedures.

One co-sponsor, Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina said one purpose was an interest “in not having a municipality hold the entire state up for a major project.”

Some of the bill’s original provisions were loosened to provide more environmental protections and appeals steps when the Senate Transportation Committee examined it. It wasn’t enough to save the measure for this session.

Critics of the measure said it foreclosed many opportunities for critics to provide needed input, and some said that a provision to send some appeals to court would actually lengthen the process.

Opposition came from environmentalists, from Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and from the Coalition for a Sustainable 520, which is pressing for design changes to the west end of the new 520 Bridge across Lake Washington The coalition, while trying to negotiate changes, has also hired an attorney and amassed a war chest.

The Senate bill “was too controversial to keep moving forward,” said Andrew Austin of the Transportation Choices Coalition, an opponent of the measure.